Waiting Between Worlds
by NonaRose
Summary: Regina lost all the hope she had, or so she thought when a bang on her door at 4am wakes her up for a surprise. (Based after the finale WITH OutlawQueen AND a happy ending too!) This is a OS and until I find a way to continue it then perhaps I might but to be on the safe side, rated M for future chapters. (I suck at summaries, sorry!)
**A/N** : Okay, here's a quick 5x21 OS because I really couldn't get this idea out of my head without writing it down. This has a happy ending although it's also a bit sad at the beginning. Please note that I didn't watch finale (like many of other sad Hoodies) so I have absolutely (just a bit) no idea what happened in either episode and winged the shit out of this. Also, please forgive my mistakes and typos (and kindly point them out, much appreciated!)

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon a Time nor its characters (sadly, or things would have been better)

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"They say all things never truly die." -Zack Hemsey

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The past couple of days were tiring to say the least, both emotionally and physically draining. She lost her true love and soulmate in the worst possible way imagined. Sacrifice. It filled her with guilt because it should've been her, he should've been here with his daughter, Roland shouldn't have said goodbye. That was another thing that upset her, it angered her. The little boy she saw as her 2nd son was taken away before she was given the chance to tell him goodbye and although she didn't believe in goodbyes, it had her fuming with anger, it only added fuel to the flame burning within her. It was her right, and even that was taken away from her.

Then came Henry with his usual shenanigans, doing things before thinking of the consequences. Just like his birth mother and grandmother — it must run in the family. She loved him but he got out of control sometimes. Going to New York and back again wasn't something she planned on doing after losing the man she loved, she wanted to mourn in her own way but even that she couldn't do anymore.

She went to bed late after downing her 3rd glass of red wine on an empty stomach again, leaving behind the fireplace burning in the livingroom, a reminder of the indoor picnic they had months ago, a reminder of how cruel fate can be sometimes. Making her believe in something only to snatch it away from her. It's true when they said, a person doesn't know the value of something until they lose it. She didn't know just how much Robin _truly_ meant to her until he died in her arms.

It was 4 o'clock in the morning when an odd feeling enveloped Storybrooke, thickening the air surrounding it but Regina didn't think much of it, she stirred and returned back to sleep, savoring the slumber that didn't come easily to her. It was the only place that ceased her pain, momentarily.

She returned back to dreamland, to how things could've ended differently. To the place where Robin still lived on, where his touch was warm against her skin and his forest scent lingered around her. To the place where there was no pain, only smiles and laughters. Only happily ever after.

Everything was perfect, more than perfect if that was even possible when—

 _Thump…thump…thump_

Regina stirred, ignoring the loud bangs coming from her front door. She pulled the sheets tighter against her chest and screwed her eyes shut, hoping it would stop. She wanted it to stop.

But it didn't. It got louder and more frequent, it got on her every nerve. Growling angrily, she pushed herself off the bed and stormed out of her bedroom with her robe in hand, shrugging it on while marching down the staircase with a scowl on her face. "It's 4am!" She barked, one hand clutching at the door handle while the other turned the lock, and with one swift movement she pulled the door open only to be greeted by the savior, her boyfriend standing on her left and her father on her right. She scoffed but before she was given the chance to express her anger, she was interrupted by Emma.

"You have to come with us!" The savior exclaimed and was treated with an eye roll from the mayor. "Regina this is serious!" She insisted.

"I'm sure it can wait until the morning, Sheriff Swan." Regina sighed, her voice low and filled with…nothing. It was cold and heavy, trembling like talking took too much from her. She was too tired.

"Regina—" David said but she lifted her hand up, a quiet plead for his silence. She couldn't hear more of whatever they had to say. She was no hero for them to rush to whenever the town was in trouble, Robin was a hero and no one acknowledge it. She hoped this would be enough for them to leave but Emma took her by surprise, she wrapped her hand around her wrist and pulled her out, ignoring the fact that she wore nothing but her silk pajamas and a robe above it.

"Miss Swan!" Regina cried out but it fell to deaf ears when the savior dragged her down the streets of Storybrooke. She knew this wasn't an act of humiliation but if she was witnessed by the townspeople in her bedtime clothing, she would be humiliated. She dug her bare feet into the ground, tugged to free her wrist but much to her surprise, the blonde was stronger. She groaned, "Let go of me, Emma."

"You have to trust me," Emma pleaded, and she didn't but she didn't have a choice either. Sure, she could use her magic to poof herself away but for some reason — unknown even to her — she didn't. It was that feeling that overwhelmed her, that little voice at the back of her head that whispered to her not to. And she didn't.

Halfway to wherever their destination was, Emma let go and she willingly walked by their side, arms wrapped around herself to stay warm and feet aching at the roughness of the concrete ground she walked upon. David offered his shoes but she turned it down. She wanted to go back to bed not wear some filthy, worn out pair of boots.

They walked and walked until they stopped in the middle of the forest, somewhere near where the Merry Men's camp used to be. She knew, Robin guided her to it multiple times before, she memorized it, and she recognized it now. "What are we doing here?" She whispered, her voice merely above a whisper.

The river was somewhere close too, she could hear it stream. It was quiet aside from it and the sound of their heavy breathings and the animals of the night, the owls and the crickets and whatnot but then their was the sound of the rustlings of the bushes that echoed and a crack of a fallen branch or a stick, whatever it was it broke, indicating the presence of another person.

"What's going on?" Regina asked, for a split second she wondered if this was a bad dream like the one she had many moons ago, where Emma tied her up against the tree and slashed a sword through her, or was it Henry? Either way, she feared it but it felt so real. The soil tickling her toes didn't feel like it was a part of a dream.

"Regina," David said, his eyes fixed behind her rather than at her. She was so confused, why did they act this way? It wasn't sympathy, it was something else and she couldn't place her finger over it.

"Regina"

That voice…It can't be.

It sounded so familiar, it sounded like…Robin.

But he was gone.

"What's going on?" Regina repeated, gulping thickly. Whiskey eyes watering, filling with tears threatening to spill. If this was a joke then it was the cruelest joke anyone could ever pull but instead of voicing their answer to her, Emma grabbed her by the shoulders and turned around to face the sight that knocked the air out of her lungs, that weakened her knees, that made her forget how to breathe for a second.

 _Robin_

He was standing right there infront of her but he can't be real, she saw him die. She saw his _soul_ fade into nothing, she buried him, but he was here.

She gaped at him. Lightheaded and confused, her feet took her to him like it was the most natural thing. Something she always did. Her lips parted, the words at the tip of her tongue but she couldn't find her voice, she couldn't speak but then he did instead. "My love," he whispered, head tilted to the side and a bright smile over his lips, hers trembling and tears streaking down her cheeks, she took a step closer and collapsed in his waiting arms. Hands gripping him for dear life. Her cries muffled against his chest, tears soaking the material of his shirt.

He was really here.

She had so many questions, starting with how? But it wasn't the time, not now. His fingers were tangled in her bed hair, his arms supporting her up the way her legs couldn't; how could they when she was in a state of shock? Her _dead_ soulmate came back to life just when she thought she'd given up on hope.

"You're here," she whimpered and he nodded, planting another kiss at the very top of her head. So soft and loving, a proof of his existence. Something Hades promised to destroy but he was here. Hades was wrong, somehow.

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No questions were asked between the two of them, no words were spoken for a long time. Their silence was enough, their breathing and the sound of their heart beating was all they needed. She laid in his embrace, unmoving. Only her chest rising and falling with every heave she drew, it was enough for them.

For tonight, it was more than enough.

Until the dawn breaks and the sun rises, they shan't worry over questions they didn't have the answers for. When the sun rises, they'll face reality. For now, the past couple of days have been tiring so they rest.

When the sun rises and the new day begins, their new quest will too. He found a way back to her, now they'll find a way to bring his son to them.

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 **A/N:** Please don't forget to review, I'd love to know your thoughts about this (in a nice way, no need to attack me, please?)


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